Saturday is always busy

Typical of our Saturdays be they in Maine or Alabama - today was no exception. Headed out for a bike ride on the ferry to Dauphin Island. However on the way, got to discussing it and changed plans (never having made the trip we had no idea what to expect biking wise) and boarded the ferry in the car.
Rode around the island scoping it out, really nice with a bike path that went the length of the island (14 miles) but we decided to start out at the Audubon Nature walk. Really fantastic as it has a boardwalk that circles a 2 acre lake and paths leading down to the beach.
Then had to check out the venue where Ricky Skaggs was playing in the afternoon and ended up talking to the town cop. Asked about lunch and he recommended a BBQ place in the 'center of town". Turned out that the center had a lot to offer and he was right about the BBQ sandwiches - they were terrific - forget the beans though as they weren't BBQ at all - more like Campbell's baked beans with some veggies - tasted really good but not what I was expecting. Then off to check out the goat trees.
Then we decided to check out the far end of the island - cool place with swimming in the Gulf or in the Bay - the width of the island at that point was about 200 yards.
Decided at that point that if we had the car ANYHOW - and had not signed up for a round trip on the ferry we should head for another really recommended place - Bellingrath Gardens - fantastic.150 acres with  2000 Rose plants and a beta site for new roses plus a tour of their house, a 10,000 square foot house on America's top 100 houses list. Plus there was a ceramics museum where there were birds, flowers and animals sculptured in glass and porcelain..
We spent the better part of the afternoon walking about the gardens and the displays - never did get on the bikes so will save that for tomorrow as the weather is supposed to be a twin to today - mid 80's and no humidity.
We thought we'd take a ride at 10:30PM to check out the spring breakers - the temp was 76 again with no humidity. Tough duty
Oh and met 2 couples from Maine, one was from Yarmouth and the other from Brunswick. Hard to imagine being this far from home and meeting folks that seem to from your backyard.
Pictures later